Caucus catastrophising

 Image: Keepcalm

He's leaving.  She's leaving. It's a shambles. It's going to fail. He's an idiot. She's an idiot. Now look what he's done. Now look what she's done. It's useless. It's hopeless. Well, that's done it now. We are all doomed. Okay - Simon says, "Do this!" and you will all feel better.

You have got to be joking. I am so fed up with the moronic, asinine media commentary on parliamentary change. Yes, there is change. It's 2013. Things change. It's called life. Someone does this and then someone does that. Surprising , isn't it? It's not all cause and effect. If you work in some service organisations then you often see a change of personnel along with a change in leadership. It often is the time which gives people a chance to assess their current situation - AND MOVE ON. A lot of people  these days work gruelling days and the politicians in a hung parliament have not had an easy time of it. It has been a tough call with a big agenda , often a lack of pairing and then a requirement to just be there because it has not been business as usual. It has been an intense 3 years where everyone has had to put in. It means they have grown, they have learnt a lot and that probably they want to do something different now. There should be some fresh faces. There should be some opportunities for others to learn the ropes and get used to what it is like on the next rung of their career ladder. Some people are lifetime politicians. Some will use that parlimentary training ground to move into other service areas like Brendan Nelson has with great success and Malcolm Fraser. Some organisations have a change of leadership and personnel on a regular basis. Try working in a big supermarket. Try retail. Long, arduous hours,  practically no notice of when you will be shifted to another store. A new boss on a regular basis. Know what? Australians have learned to manage this and they have learned to adapt. They have also learned you cannot stop people from making decisions about their lives nor can you stop some organisations from playing musical staff. On the one hand it means you have to be professional and learn to honour the position and work with anyone. On the other hand it creates exit points for staff and  leaders alike. Then there are those who just stay. They keep a sense of perspective but you don't need many of those. You do need mentors and old hands to enable the fast tracking of the younger ones. I feel  no sense of things falling apart. At the end of a parliamentary session before an election these people who have some fine skills will look at their options. Good on them.  Good luck to the ones who will come in and offer their skills maybe at the next level or from other areas of expertise. The one thing we don't need is stagnation. We need to keep moving because we have sustained ourselves , hung parliament and all through a very trying global time.